HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Researchers at the University of South Florida are using the power of artificial intelligence to identify dangerous mosquitoes and help stop the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses across Florida.
The project focuses on developing mosquito traps equipped with cameras and AI software. The traps are designed to detect species known to carry diseases.
For PHD Student, Farhat Adam, the work is personal. Azam grew up in Bangladesh, where she and her family experienced a dengue fever outbreak.
“It was terrible for all of us because we could not stand or walk for 14 days,” Adam said.
Her family recovered, but Azam said many in her community did not. That experience fuels her passion to help prevent future outbreaks.
Adam and her team have designed a high-tech mosquito trap equipped with cameras and AI software that can identify dangerous mosquitoes in real time.
The trap uses a fan and light to lure the mosquitoes inside, where they fall onto a sticky pad. Two internal cameras capture images of the trapped mosquitoes and send them to the cloud. There, an AI model analyzes the image to determine whether the mosquitoes are carrying the disease.
If a disease-carrying mosquito is detected, the system immediately alerts local public health officials.
In addition to the trap, the team developed a user-friendly mosquito dashboard, allowing anyone with a phone to upload pictures of mosquitoes for AI analysis.
Within minutes, users can receive predictions on whether the mosquitoes pose a health risk.
The trap is currently being tested in Hillsborough County, but researchers hope to expand across Florida.
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